Winter's Falling Star
by TheDiamondTyrant
Summary: A look into yet another life Ned Stark could have had.


**Winter's Falling Star**

 **AN:** Well here's another one. I hope you enjoy it.

This story has a switching POV

Let's see how it goes.

This story has no editor, so all mistakes are mine.

Originally posted on A03.

Important Announcement in the Ending Notes.

 **Disclaimer:** I do not own GoT/ASOIF (Game of Thrones/A Song Of Ice and Fire) or any of its characters, I'm just writing my story in their world.

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She was a true Dornish beauty, olive skin, dark hair, and hauntingly beautiful violet eyes. Ned Stark was enchanted by her. Her being Ashara Dayne. Though he couldn't seem to work up the courage to talk to her, so he contented himself with watching from afar, as he always seemed to. Her smile seemed to outshine the torch lights as she spun in circles with different partners. Though it seemed his brother Brandon had a different idea. Ned watched through the side of his vision as his Brandon approached Lady Dayne and Ned had never envied his brother more than in that moment, why couldn't he possess an ounce of his brother's confidence or charisma? Instead he was the plain faced quiet wolf surrounded by wild things.

So, his surprise was great when a polite cough brought him out of his self-depreciating thoughts, only to find himself staring at the woman who had caught his attention. Her eyes, so hauntingly beautiful held a hint of mirth in them as she smiled down at him. It took him a moment to reign in his thoughts to understand she was asking him to dance, and his cheeks burned as he flushed, and her blinding smile was directed toward him. He stood and with as much grace as he could muster accepted her request and he followed like a pup as she pulled him onto the dance floor.

Ashara was used to being approached at such celebrations for a dance. So, when she saw the handsome Brandon Stark, the Wild Wolf of Winterfell, make his toward her she assumed he would ask for one as well. She was quite shocked when instead of asking for himself he asked for his younger brother, the shy man who had been seated at their table. She would admit to having not noticed him. Who could blame her, when he sat among such wild things as Brandon Stark and Robert Baratheon?

The heir to Winterfell must have taken her silence as a rejection for he started to talk proudly of his younger sibling, words holding a slight slur, testament to how much drink he had already consumed. Talking about how he had his eyes on her all evening and he hated to see his brother look so miserable. She decided to take pity on the Starks and agreed, and purposefully moved through the crowd to ask this Eddard to dance.

She found his blushing face amusing and a welcome change from the schooled neutral faces she had been dealing with all her life. Though she would give the man credit, he quickly apologized and accepted her invitations. Ashara could feel the tension in him as he walked behind her as she led them to the dance floor, too the cheers from the stark table, most interestingly Brandon and Robert being the most prominent among the shouting.

It was obvious Eddard had not received a proper education on how to dance, though she was certain he would do passably if the tune they were currently spinning to was slower, but he was grateful when she continued leading him through the various steps.

"You know, your brother asked me to dance with you?" she decided to see if the Northern would blush again and she wasn't disappointed as his cheeks reddened under the start of a beard he wore.

"I shall have to thank him then for whatever he said to convince such a beautiful maiden as yourself to dance with me."

Ashara had been given many compliments but something seemed more, honest, about the one that just came from her dancing partner, and so she hid her flushed face in a spin. The song began to change and Ashara decided to spend more time with this man, something about him intrigued her.

She would be glad of the decision to dance with a shy second son for years to come.

Ned would come to learn that Ashara Dayne was not just a pretty face, behind those haunting violet eyes laid a sharp wit that had him stumbling over his words as she teased him mercilessly. He assumed he had done something to earn a little favor with her for when she complained of her feet hurting and him inviting her back to the Stark table, she didn't hesitate to join them.

As her gaze swept the table, his damning thoughts returned, of course he would be no match for Brandon and Robert for the attention of Ashara, and he resigned himself to being forced into the background, where he supposed he belonged.

As Brandon and Robert spent tales of their achievements, Ned couldn't help but feel a flash of annoyance at his sibling's confidence. Why couldn't he have inherited any of their wolf blood? He loved his siblings and Robert, if Ashara decided them to be of more interest he would swallow his own wants and smile as best as he could for them. What kind of woman would want a second son anyway? Lady Ashara had said it herself, she only agreed because of Brandon.

He had a white knuckled grip on his wine cup and it was Lyanna whose boot collided with his leg to get his attention from the floor. He looked up and was surprised to see Ashara looking at him with concern, eyes darting to his hands, and he relaxed himself. He smiled shyly as she slowly brought him into the conversation and he found himself more and more intrigued about Ashara.

Their conversation would last long after his siblings along with Robert stumbled off to their own rooms. Ned found himself smiling and laughing so often his cheeks hurt from being unused in such a way before. When Ashara asked him to lead her back to her rooms, his honor would not let hi do any less.

Yet Ned would find his honor held a snow's chance in the seven hells against Lady Ashara Dayne as she pulled him into her empty chamber, their lips meeting with passion.

Ned Stark was not the first man Ashara had ever bedded, but he was the first maiden man she laid with, and she felt a certain feeling take root within her when she learned of this little fact. She found it endearing as he let her lead them through his first time, and she couldn't help but feel they now shared a connection that no other would be able to share with him, and she found herself not wanting to share this weird shy second son of the North.

When the Starks along with Elia were shamed by Rhaegar's decision to crown Lyanna Stark, Ashara was torn between who to comfort, but chose her long-time friend Elia. She would comfort Ned during the last nights they shared before the tourney was officially over.

Ashara wouldn't forget the gray eyes of Eddard Stark, or the time they spent together, for all her life.

Months later and Ned Stark would stand before his irate father as he explained why Ned would be sent south to marry Ashara Dayne. The young man would do his duty and fix the slight he put on Lady Dayne's honor. Ned Stark always did his duty.

Dorne was the hottest place Ned had ever been, and he swore he would die from the heat before the marriage was complete. He was to wed Ashara Dayne to restore her honor and he supposed there were worse fates than marrying a beautiful woman such as her. As she walked down the small crowd he reaffirmed his belief, worse fates indeed.

The need for a bedding wasn't deemed unnecessary, and Ned assumed it was part of the Dornish culture, and their first night as husband and wife held a special meaning, and the connection they had built up at Harrenhal was still present. Ashara was a beautiful woman and he hoped that their child would take after her, rather than his own plain face.

Ashara wasn't sure she loved her husband, but he was a good man regardless, and there were worse fates than to be married to an honorable man. He was a gentle man and Ashara wasn't expecting it, though she should have, but she could truly begin looking at her Ned, and that's what he was now. The might not love each other, but they were each other's, and now she would never have to share the connection she built with him in Harrenhal. A small part, that was growing ever bigger by each passing day, was truly glad about that. She had been his first, and she would be his last. She would except it no other way. She may be Dornish, but Ned was of the North, and so while most Dornish would have multiple paramours, Ashara found herself unusually satisfied with a gruff second son of the North.

Ned wasn't sure he loved his wife, but that all changed the day their daughter was born. Their daughter had her mothers' violet eyes, but the dark hair and pale skin was a mixture of both of the bloods flowing through her. They named her Allyria. She would be a beauty as her mother was, Ned was sure of it.

When the wet-nurse took their daughter to bathe her and allow Ashara a chance to rest, Ned gently caressed her face and when his wife pulled him in for a kiss, he found himself smiling and fallowing along with her mood. Something had changed in his chest, Ashara Dayne was not just his wife, but the mother of their child. She was becoming part of his family and he would do anything to protect his family.

Ashara truly began to see what kind of man Ned was when she saw him begin to be wrapped around the finger of their beautiful daughter. She watched one such interaction late in the night as the torch light burned softly in the halls of Starfall. A song was hummed in her husbands throat as he rocked Allyria to sleep. She stood in the open door watching the sight, and the feelings inside her grew a little stronger.

She stepped into the dimly lit room when Ned laid their sleeping daughter into her small crib. Her arms sliding around the strong middle of her husband. She didn't want to fight the feeling growing inside her and so she led him from their daughter's nursery, and into their shared room and when she pushed her lips to his and her lover, her husband, her Ned responded in kind. That night would be gentle and whispered declaration of love would flow between them easily.

They were calling it Robert's Rebellion and it had taken Ned into it with both hands. He didn't wish to leave his pregnant wife, but he also couldn't let the injustice done to his family stand, so he rode North as hard as he could, his thought on his small family, and not on how his father and brother were dead and Lyanna was missing. He couldn't dwell on the pain in his chest, he couldn't let himself break.

Winterfell would be their new home, and Ashara wasn't sure she liked the cold that seemed to seep into her bones as the marched North, their second daughter swaddled in heavy cloths. Arya was her name and the blood of Winter ran strong in het veins. With her pale skin, dark hair, and gray eyes that matched those of her fathers. She was would be a willful child, Ashara was certain, already wrapping her father around her finger with her coos just as her older sister had. Her husband had come back from the Rebellion, with Robert as the new King of Westeros. There was tension mounting between Ashara and Ned, her brother had not returned from the war and Ned only said he made a promise, though Dawn was returned. Ashara refused to believe her brother had died at the hands of her husband. Arthur was the best swordsman in Westeros, arguably the world, but he hadn't returned while Ned had. She was torn, and her husbands silence only increased the tension. She would wait until they were safely in the walls of Winterfell before she would corner her husband and demand answers.

Winterfell and the whole of The North was like a breath of fresh air for Ned. He liked Starfall, loved his family he had there, but Winterfell would always be his home, and now it truly was his home. That thought sent a pang through his heart as he realized soon even Benjen would be leaving and he would be alone, the last Stark in Winterfell.

He should have known the spitfire known as Ashara Dayne, his own wife, would not let the matter of her brother's circumstances go. He really should have been grateful that she waited until they were settled within Winterfell to be questioned once more. She had him backed into a corner, literally, finger a bare breath away from his face and her face was contorted in a cute way, and he really shouldn't have smiled at her.

Ned had encountered Arthur at the Tower of Joy with good men at his back. As far as Westeros was concerned the 3 Kingsguard died in the ensuing combat with only Ned and Howland returning with the bones of Lyanna Stark. Ned had made a promise that no one would know what truly happened. No one was supposed to know Arthur Dayne had almost killed him and if it hadn't been for Howland four-pronged spear piercing the Kingsguard neck, Ned would have been buried with his men in the Red Mountains of Dorne. How could he tell the wife he had come to love, that he had killed her brother? He had spent the whole of the ride North to Winterfell how he would tell her, and still he came up with nothing, so he decided on the truth and risk the ire and wrath of Ashara for the rest of their lives. Really did he deserve any less for failing his family so much?

Her feelings on the truth of the Tower of Joy were confused. Her husband had taken to avoiding her, giving her space and time he had said. Truly she needed it, the urge to strangle her husband was matched evenly with the urge to hold him and bare her teeth at all who would harm his heart even further.

They would avoid each other enough for the common folk of Winterfell to notice and all waited with bated breath to learn what would happen to the couple that seemed so in love.

Ned was certain he was a dead man when Ashara walked into his solar and he saw the dark circles under her eyes, mirroring his own. He gave her his full attention as she slowly stalked across the cold stone floor of the room. He braced for a slap to be yelled at, or any number of things his sleep deprived brain had thought up during his late-night learnings of how to run Winterfell.

So, when she sat in his lap and took his hands away from the scrolls he had clenched tight to hold them, he was surprised. She didn't mutter a word about the tension between them and instead merely started looking over the papers in front of them and started giving him advice. Advice he was happy to listen too. He was never meant to rule Winterfell and so had never truly been taught what to do. Now he was ruling Winterfell singlehandedly with no help from anyone other than the maester Luwin.

The acts of the Tower would only be brought up once more, when they had truly reconciled and Ashara had led him to their shared chambers and pulled him into her bed.

"My brother died doing his duty, and you fought him because of yours. I can fault neither of you. Nor shall I My Ned."

The North while very different from her beloved Dorne, held a sense of kinship to her home. Both being seen as separate from the rest of the Seven Kingdoms. Ashara had never truly held strong in the gods, but she found the godswood strangely welcoming. She often joined Ned there while he oiled the large Valyrian blade known as Ice. The ancient place of the old gods held the same sense of power that Winterfell held. A sense that something great once walked the paths they walked. It was a truly awe-inspiring place to be, and she was starting to think of it as her home.

Indeed, her home. A home where she could be who ever she wanted to be and she had never thought she would want to be the wife of a simple Northerner and the mother of their two beautiful girls.

Dorne and The North were not so different, but The North had something Dorne lacked. It lacked a certain plain faced Ned Stark, the man who had so easily taken her heart.

Ned had never truly though he belonged within Winterfell. The ancient seat of House Stark should have gone to Brandon and it would have had the world went as planned. He would probably have been married off as his siblings were, most likely to some Northern woman to placate them from his father's Southern ambitions.

Indeed, even after he was named Lord Paramount of Winterfell and Warden of The North Winterfell had not truly felt like it was his. It only began to feel as such when his wife finally forgave him, and their small family became even closer. He would find himself dreaming during the day of his little family. Of the ladies his daughters would turn out to be, and most fathers would probably see their daughters as quiet and demure women to be married off, but not his wild children. He saw them in armor and fighting for their place, beside one another. The Starks believed strongly in the term family. Family was everything to them, as it should be, and woah to the fool who would earn their combined wrath.

Yes, Winterfell was his home and his family had made it so.

As the years passed, the pair only fell harder for one another. Even as their hair started to gray and hard parts of their bodies softened their love grew stronger. Their daughters were willful and strongly independent yet held true to The North and their old ways. They were truly their parents' children being a weird yet complete mix of them both.

Their first born, Allyria Stark was the heir to Winterfell and while some lords under Ned grumbled they were quickly silenced when she challenged them for dare insulting her honor.

Ned and Ashara's eyes shone bright when their daughters were born free of the restrictions any would impose on them. Both so free and wild with the blood of Dorne and the Wolfs Blood running through their veins, woah be to any who dare challenge the She Wolves of Winterfell.

Love was held between the small Stark family, all fierce in their protection of each other. Allyria with her fiery temper and wild mouth. Arya with her ice like eyes and deft skill. Ashara with her political cunning. Ned's protection was something subtler, he was their glue, for none would be there without him and yet he never saw it that way. He merely saw a family he loved and would wish for nothing other than their happiness.

More years would pass for the beloved couple of the North and neither could have been happier than when Allyria took her place as Lady Paramount of Winterfell and Warden of The North.

Their beloved Arya would travel the world, her sense of adventure never letting her settle down, though she frequently visited the halls of Winterfell between her adventures.

Ashara would gently guide their daughter in her ruling, much adept at it than Ned ever was, and the man held no shame in admitting it. Second sons were rarely taught the art of ruling.

Ned though was content with watching his family live a life that he never had. Throughout it all Ned Stark was glad for one thing. The day Ashara became his falling star in winter.

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 **AN:** Well there it is, hope you enjoyed it! Please review, constructive criticisms are also welcomed as are just general comments. As usual, thank y'all for reading.

When I was doing my research on Ashara I was left with a heavy heart. She lost everything from her brother to her own babe, to even her own life. I felt she would benefit from having Ned Stark in her life, and canon even hints that something happened between them at Harrenhal.

I hope I did Ashara justice, as I have stated before, I don't have a lot of experience with GoT/ASOIF and don't really plan on changing that, though I will continue writing these stories.

 **Important Announcement!**

So, I have run into an unintended problem. I am running out of different ways for Ned to have a better life. I have "pairings" so that's not the problem, but I am running the risk of repeating some stuff, so any new stories will slow down while I do some planning. That very thing happened in this story, and that's part of the reason it took longer to get out than y'all were probably expecting.

I am also working on a secret project, that I think y'all will enjoy, so that will also contribute to the slow down. This project will hopefully be ready to start going up when I finish my DC story which you can find here: u/4539342/Wolfboulder

Don't misunderstand, I enjoy writing these stories, but I don't force myself to write something I am not in the mood for or else the end product will be something no one is satisfied with.

On top of it all I can get burned out by life just as much as anyone and I needed to take a brake before I burned myself out.

I don't want to let you, the readers, down, but I'm only human. I can get burned out by life just as much as anyone.

So, I hope y'all will stick around for the next one, whenever it may be!

Thanks for understanding.

-Wolfb.


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